A court verdict sentencing two Britons to a brief jail term and a fine in Dubai was greeted as a positive solution to a case that had raised tensions between the city’s native population and its large number of expatriates.
The incident has triggered a heated debate in local papers about the effect of tourism and the majority expatriate population on the Muslim country’s customs and traditions.
A British couple was sentenced on Thursday to three months in jail for having drunken sex in public on Dubai’s Jumeirah beach.
Michelle Palmer, 37, a Dubai resident, and Vince Acors, 34, were also fined 1,000 dirhams (US$270) for drinking alcohol in public.
Palmer, who was fired from her work, denied she was having sex, but witnesses said that the couple were engaged in sexual activity. Their lawyer, Hassan Mattar, said that he would appeal against the court’s verdict.
Foreigners represent about 90 percent of Dubai’s population, far outnumbering local residents, with the largest contingent being South Asian laborers. The city, best known for its gleaming skyscrapers and man-made islands, is often compared to Las Vegas. But underneath the glamour is a social code that frowns on behavior that many Europeans might consider ordinary.
Foreigners on Dubai’s streets on Friday said the case, which raised fears tourism could be impacted, said the verdict seemed reasonable.
Mike Fandr, a British citizen working in Dubai said, “On a personal level, I think they committed an error, and if they did it in London they would have been punished as well,” Fandr said.
Some Europeans said it was reasonable to demand more respect for local culture.
“Some Europeans believe that their nationality would protect them from any legal responsibility, but the incident proved that UAE law is applicable to everyone,” said John Bardi, expatriate living in Dubai.
Emiratis and Arabs who live in Dubai praised the city’s authorities for punishing the couple. Some of them even thought that a harsher punishment was required.
“The incident sparked angry reactions among Arabs and Muslims because it is the first of its kind,” said Hussein al-Shami, an Egyptian who works in a real estate company in Dubai.
He said he has seen Westerners wearing revealing clothes in Dubai, and caressing each other in shopping centers despite Dubai’s more conservative cultural norms.
“Some Britons thought it’s fine to take matters further,” he said.
Khalid Hameed, a UAE government official, praised the court ruling because he said it proved that everyone is equal under the law.
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so